The Write News

Yankee Magazine Celebrates 75th Anniversary

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EST

Yankee Magazine celebrates its 75th anniversary with its September/October 2010 issuee. Included in the collector's edition is a special anniversary section featuring "The Ultimate Yankee Quiz" and "75 Things Every New Englander Should Do." Author, educator, and environmentalist Bill McKibben wraps up his four-part series called "How New England Can Change the World" with an article on how small-town banks in Massachusetts' Berkshire Hills are printing their own regional currency. The issue also names name the top 25 foliage towns in New England. Also included in the issue are Yankee's best recipes from the past 75 years and editor-in-chief Judson D. Hale Sr. reminiscing about his first day at Yankee, more than 50 years ago.

"Robb Sagendorph, Yankee Magazine's founder, created something unique in 1935," says editor Mel Allen. "He created a magazine that held the voices of a region within its bound pages. And as New England changed and evolved, so too did the magazine; the voices may be different today, but they still come from the same place. This issue is our roadmap to the fun and pride we feel about belonging to New England. Enjoy the trip!"

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AOL Launches 100th Patch Site

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST

AOL has launched its 100th Patch site, Morristown Patch. Patch is AOL's hyper-local news service. AOL announced that it plans to expand Patch to more than 500 U.S. neighborhoods in 20 states by the end of 2010. AOL also says it has over 500 journalists still to be hired. Patch claims it will be the largest hirer of full-time journalists in the U.S. this year. Each Patch site has one professional editor working with a group of freelancers.

Warren Webster, President, Patch Media, said. "We believe Patch is a revolutionary and efficient approach to producing relevant, quality local journalism at scale, and we couldn't be more excited about expanding into hundreds of new communities across America this year."

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Time Warner Zaps Bed Bugs

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST

Bed bugs are a growing problem in Manhattan. Several retailers had to shut in order to remove them. Bergdorf Goodman is even patrolling its stores with beagles. Smart Money reports that Time Warner's headquarters were infested, so they called in professionals.

Time Warner said, "As part of a routine cleaning and preventive process, it was discovered that there were bed bugs present in a small contained area within Time Warner's offices. The problem was treated by professionals and is no longer an issue."

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Gifts & Decorative Accessories and Playthings Magazines Merger

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST

Gifts & Decorative Accessories and Playthings magazines have merged. The magazines are both published by Sandow Media LLC. Nancy Wolkow, Publisher, Gifts & Decorative Accessories explains the merger in an article published here on giftsanddec.com.

So, starting with the September/October 2010 print issue, Gifts & Decorative Accessories will include a dedicated section within the magazine called Playthings. It will open with its own heavier stock cover and contain all of the regular Playthings content. We will follow the industry with the same insight and expertise that our readers have learned to expect. We will flag the new section on the cover of Gifts & Decorative Accessories, just to make sure every reader understands where to find the toy industry coverage. The new combined publication will boast a circulation of over 26,000.

And as we are doing with the print products, we will do the same with the websites and other electronic products - rolling the www.playthings.com site into its own dedicated section on www.giftsanddec.com. We will continue to publish the Playthings electronic newsletters (Playthings Extra, Breaking News, and Playthings Buzz) with content focused exclusively on the toy industry.

The playthings.com website becomes a secton of giftsanddec.com. The magazines will be combined and published under the Gifts & Decorative Accessories name.

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Montreal Gazette Ends Print Edition of Sunday Paper

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST

The Montreal Gazette has announced it is ending the Sunday Gazette. The Sunday version of the paper will go web-only. The Gazette will cease publishing a print version of the paper on Sundays as of Aug. 8.

In its 22-year existence, the Sunday Gazette has struggled to find significant advertising support to cover the costs of printing and distribution. Subscription rates and single-copy sales cover only a small percentage of total costs; therefore, The Gazette has decided to focus its resources on the six remaining print editions and on the Web.

La Presse made a similar decision last year and other newspapers, both in Canada and the U.S., have reduced their print editions in recent times.

Newspapers cutting back on Sunday issues has become a major in the industry as the newspaper publishing industry continues its slow migration to become an all-digital industry.

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Forbes to Launch Middle East Publication

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:00:00 EST

Forbes has signed an agreement to launch Forbes Middle East in partnership with Arab Publisher House. The magazine will be based in Dubai, UAE. The launch will be held in Dubai, with the first issue slated to be published in October 2010. Forbes Middle East will have an initial circulation of 25,000, rising to 30,000 within six months. Arab Publisher House also plans to bring ForbesWoman, ForbesLife and other magazines to the Middle East.

Dr. Nasser Al Tayyar, President of Arab Publisher House, said, "I want to thank Forbes Media for the confidence and trust it has placed in Arab Publisher House by choosing us out of 20 publishers who bid for this license. We believe in the Forbes brand, the most trusted business brand in the world, and Arab Publisher House will invest extensively in positioning the brand in the Middle East. We have a very strong multinational, multilingual team with a passion for editorial excellence, and we will uphold Forbes standards and quality."

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Sam Zell Sees a PDF Newspaper Future

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST

Reuters reports that Sam Zell, Chairman and Chief Executive of Tribune Company, see PDF replacing the home delivery of newspapers.

"Going forward it's going to require all kinds of different approaches, including, probably the most significant, the elimination of home delivery and the replacement of it with PDFs. The iPad is the real example of almost replicating a newspaper on an instrument. I think that is only the beginning of how that is all going to evolve."

Newspapers print will be replaced, but PDF does not seem like a good choice. People need to be able to search for what they want from newspapers on the Internet with a browser. Keeping the newspaper format the same and just dumping it out as a PDF file is not going to solve the problem. The content of a newspaper has to be broken apart to be useful with today's technology.

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Borders Group Reaches Deal to Sell Paperchase

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST

Borders Group has entered into an agreement to sell Paperchase Products Limited to Primary Capital Limited, a private equity firm. Paperchase is a retailer of stationery, cards and gifts based in the U.K. Most Borders stores nationwide feature Paperchase gifts and stationery products. Under the agreement, Borders Group will continue to purchase and carry products designed and sourced by Paperchase in its U.S. stores.

The company will receive proceeds of approximately $31 million upon closing, which is expected within the next week. The company is required to use $25 million of the proceeds to reduce the amount outstanding under its $90 million term loan credit facility.

"The sale of our Paperchase business is another major step in strengthening our balance sheet - and enables us to place an even greater focus on our financial and strategic initiatives, which are vital to a Borders turnaround and revitalization of the brand," said Mike Edwards, President of Borders Group, Inc. "We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with the Paperchase team to provide our customers with the wide array of fashionable gift and stationery products they've come to expect from Borders."

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Conde Nast Lowers Price of Wired iPad App

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST

PadGadget repots that Conde Nast has already lowered the price for its Wired iPad app. The price for the June and July issues in $3.99.

Another move by Conde Nast was to drop the price of the current issue compared to last month. The July issue is a dollar cheaper, which means you can purchase the issue for $3.99. We don't know if this will be the official price going forward, or if the price will be reduced even more. Magazine representatives have mentioned the recent price cut is associated with their investigation of different business models.

When the Wired iPad app first launched it costs $4.99. It will be interesting to see if Wired sticks with the lower price for the rest of the year.

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Conde Nast to Try Newsstand Specials

Thu, 8 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST

Conde Nast is going to make the plunge into newsstand specials. Magazines that will participate include The New Yorker, GQ, Glamour, Bon Appetit and Vogue. Crain's New York reports that Conde Nast has been resisting the move to newstand specials because of its belief that they could cheap the brands.

Newsstand specials, which do not depend heavily on advertising, are part of the revenue mix at virtually every other magazine publisher, but at Conde Nast they fell into the category of moves that were believed to risk cheapening the brands

Crain's gives one example of the newsstand specials we can expect from Conde Nast: Glamour's "Do's and Don'ts."

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Harlequin Launches Digital Imprint Called Carina Press

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 15:00:00 EST

Harlequin Enterprises Limited has launched a digital imprint called Carina Press. The books in the imprint will be published first as ebooks and will be sold directly to consumers through the Carina Press website and third-party websites. Carina Press will begin by publishing 37 books in its first month-approximately 10 books a week-across a broad range of fiction with an emphasis on romance and its subgenres, including science fiction, fantasy, erotica, gay/lesbian, mystery, suspense and thriller. Carina Press ebooks vary in price from $2.99 to $6.99 depending on the length of the work, which can range from 20,000 to more than 100,000 words.

"As a digital-first publisher Carina Press is a natural extension to our business; it builds on our digital strength and leadership position. It gives us greater flexibility in the type of editorial we can accept from authors and offer to readers. As such, we expect to discover new authors and unique voices," said Donna Hayes, CEO and Publisher of Harlequin. "As well, we hope to reach a new group of readers with niche editorial."

Carina Press is currently accepting submissions in all genres. Carina Press will consider shorter length stories, genre novels from 50,000 to more than 100,000 words and complex narratives of over 100,000 words. Carina Press says it will also acquire books that have been previously released in print form, but for which the author has either retained digital rights or had digital rights revert to them.

"More and more readers are migrating to the digital world," said Angela James, Executive Editor of Carina Press. "They're as interested in refreshingly original stories, told by authors with truly distinct perspectives, as they are compelled by the immediacy of digital publishing. With a click they can have the book right in front of them on their computer or portable device. There's no waiting for a book to arrive and it's never out of stock."

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Reader's Digest Cutting 270 Jobs

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:00:00 EST

Mediaweek reports that the Reader's Digest Association is going to cut 10% of its worldwide workforce.

In an internal announcement, president/CEO Mary Berner said the cuts were aimed at ensuring the company's healthy financial future.

"To that end, we've made the difficult but necessary decision to reduce headcount across many areas of the company," she said.

Folio says the cuts amount to around 270 employees. The company emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year.

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French newspaper Le Monde Up For Sale

Fri, 4 Jun 2010 15:43:00 EST

The AFP reports that Le Monde, a leading French newspaper is up for sale. Reuters reports that five companies are bidding on the French newspaper.

Among the candidates are French weekly magazine le Nouvel Observateur and its director Claude Perdriel, who is a board member at le Monde. Spanish media group Prisa, publisher of Spain's daily El Pais, and the Swiss media group Ringier, publisher of daily Le Temps are also said to be interested.

Also in the running is an unlikely trio of Lazard banker Matthieu Pigasse, French Internet tycoon Xavier Niel, who founded the telecom group Free, and Pierre Berge, a wealthy industrialist and patron best known as the long-time partner of designer Yves Saint Laurent.

Le Monde has been struggling like most newspapers during the recession and the new Internet economy. The New York Times says the newspaper has struggled to make money from its website. Le Monde's website can be found at lemonde.fr.

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CNN Turns 30

Wed, 2 Jun 2010 15:22:00 EST

CNN turned 30 on June 1st. The network transformed news coverage with its 24-hour news service that launched on June 1st, 1980. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a good article about CNN's 30th birthday. It may have sagging ratings, but CNN remains a very strong brand.

The revolution Ted Turner launched on June 1, 1980 -- by turning on round-the-clock news for everyone everywhere, then never turning it off again -- keeps trying to make CNN feel older than it is. Sagging ratings, scrappy social-media kids threatening to run rings around it and all.

"It's a 30-year anniversary, but it might as well be 150 or 200," said Brian Solis, a digital analyst and sociologist who advises Fortune 500 companies and others about new media. "What Twitter and other social media is doing today is similar to the impact CNN had 30 years ago."

The Wrap lists several events that CNN covered that helped make it the go-to news channel.

Among the events that helped to cement CNN's presence in the minds of the American public: the Jan. 28, 1986, Challenger disaster; 1987's around-the-clock coverage of the rescue of "Baby Jessica," a toddler who fell into a well in Midland, Texas; the first Gulf War in 1991, with Peter Arnett reporting live as bombs exploded behind him in Baghdad; and even the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a story that was broken by CNN.

Today CNN has its website with breaking news and video at CNN.com. CNN is also active on Twitter, where its @cnnbrk Twitter has almost twice as many followers ad MSNBC owned @breakingnews.

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Haute Living Launches Blogs for Eight New Markets

Sun, 30 May 2010 15:40:00 EST

Haute Living Magazine has added eight new markets to its online division: Hawaii, London, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix/Scottsdale, and Dubai. This brings the total number of markets that Haute Living covers to twelve. The first four markets eastablished include Miami, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco,

Each of these new markets has a dedicated home page that can be accessed via hauteliving.com. The individual city sites feature coverage of the market's luxury lifestyle in a blog that is updated throughout the day. The city sites also include articles from Haute Living's print editions.

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AOL Using Thousands of Writers for Online Content Creation

Wed, 26 May 2010 18:00:00 EST

AOL has transformed from a software company to a content company. They now employ 4,000 writers according to a TechCrunch story. 3,500 of these 4,000 writers are freelance writers.

It's no secret that AOL is aggressively building out its content strategy. Today at TechCrunch Disrupt, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong says that the company now employs 4,000 journalists, 3,500 of which are part-time or freelance. As of last October, the company employed roughly 3,000 journalists.

AOL has used acquisitions of sites like Weblogs, Inc., Seed.com and Patch Media to grow its large network of blogs and content sites. Yahoo, Inc. is also looking to online content creation for growth. Yahoo recently acquired Associated Content, which employs thousands of writers to create a huge amount of articles.

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Barnes & Noble to Launch PubIt Digital Publishing Service this Summer

Tue, 25 May 2010 18:00:00 EST

Barnes & Noble has announced a service called PubIt that will enable independent publishers and writers to distribute their works digitally through Barnes & Noble.com and the Barnes & Noble eBookstore. The platform is targeted at independent publishers and self-published authors.

B&N's Pubit service will compete with Amazon.com's Digital Text Platform. Barnes & Noble has not yet disclosed the royalty rate for its digital epublishing service. They also did not disclose what rights they will take. In the press release, they only state that they will offer a "simple and competitive royalty model and compensation process." A B&N spokesperson told CNET the rate will be "attractive and competitive."

B&N has launched a website for Pubit here that says the service will launch this summer.

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Time Launches NewsFeed

Sat, 15 May 2010 18:00:00 EST

Time has launched NewsFeed, which promises to cover breaking news and trendy news. NewsFeed describes itself as "your in-the-moment guide to what matters most."

Whether it's in the news or on Twitter, YouTube or Google, there's a wealth of information being created, searched and shared every minute. Newsfeed is your in-the-moment guide to what matters most. We're not here to break news. Instead, NewsFeed puts breaking news and trends into perspective, telling you what it means, why its important and why people are talking about it. And we'll always make it smart, snappy and easy to share with your friends.

We're also your guide to the weirdness of the viral Web. Confused about why Justin Bieber is a trending topic on Twitter every single day? We'll let you know. Not sure what it means to get Rickrolled? We're, um, never going to let you down.

There are a number of breaking news blog out there already, such as USA Today's On Deadline and the New York Times' The Lede. MNSBC also has BreakingNews.com, which ties in with its Twitter, @breakingnews. There are also many breaking news Twitters on Twitter itself. You can see a list here.

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Viz Media Cuts 40% of Workforce

Tue, 11 May 2010 18:00:00 EST

Publishers Weekly reports that Viz Media, a leading manga publisher, has laid off as many as 60 employees - about 40% of its workforce. PW says manga sales plunged 20% in 2009.

CBR reports that Viz Media also had a small round of layoffs in February, 2009.

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Betty White Gives SNL Ratings Boost

Mon, 10 May 2010 18:00:00 EST

Entertainment Weekly reports that Betty White's appearance on Saturday Night Live was a big win for the weekly comedy show. You can see some of the skits from the show here. Betty's appearance gave SNL its biggest overnight ratings in 18 months. The telecast averaged an 8.8 rating/21 share among 56 local markets according to Nielsen. EW says this was the best night for SNL since Jon McCain appeared on the show with Sarah Palin on Nov 1, 2008.

Facebook users pushed to get Betty White on the show. SNL was smart to respond to the fan request. It will be interested to see if this success will give Internet campaigns more power.

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Playboy Plans Safe for Work Website

Thu, 6 May 2010 15:00:00 EST

PaidContent reports that Playboy plans to launch a free website that is safe for work. A launch date for the site is not given.

In addition to expanding its mobile presence, Playboy is working on a "free, safe-for-work site" its calling TheSmokingJacket.com, as well as additional subscription content. The strategy is clearly aimed at slightly tamer rivals like Maxim, which has captured much of Playboy's targeted readers over the past decade, despite past troubles of its own.

There are scant details on TheSmokingJacket.com, but it sounds like a wise move for Playboy to take on Maxim and FHM. However, they might want to consider a shorter name.

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Washington Post Co. to Sell Newsweek

Wed, 5 May 2010 14:00:00 EST

The Washington Post Co. has announced that is plans to sell Newsweek. Allen & Company has been retained by the Washington Post Co. to explore the possible sale of magazine. The newsweekly was launched in 1933 and purchased by The Washington Post Co. in 1961.

"The losses at Newsweek in 2007-2009 are a matter of record. Despite heroic efforts on the part of Newsweek's management and staff, we expect it to still lose money in 2010. We are exploring all options to fix that problem," said Donald E. Graham, chairman of The Washington Post Co. "Newsweek is a lively, important magazine and website, and in the current climate, it might be a better fit elsewhere."

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Playboy Plans to Return to 12 Issues a Year

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST

Mediaweek reports that Playboy will be publish one more issue than it planned this year. They plan to be back to twelve issues a year by 2011.

Hugh Hefner's bunny-eared men's magazine said it would publish 11 issues this year instead of the 10 it originally planned, and return to a 12-times annual frequency in 2011.

Maybe the publication is getting a boost from its Ashley Dupre spread? It is a positive sign, but only a small one for Playboy. Mediaweek notes that Playboy's circulation has shrunk from a high of 7 million in the 1970s to just 1.5 million today.

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Zondervan Cuts 30 Jobs

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST

Publishers Weekly reports that Christian publisher Zondervan is laying off 30 employees. The job cuts were primarily from Zondervan's sales and marketing departments.

"While streamlining our operations is necessary in the context of both our business mandate and our mission to reach more people for Christ, it makes these changes no less difficult," read a statement from Zondervan.

The company is expanding its digital offerings. A press release says they had as many as 1,000 titles ready for the iPad launch.

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Reed Business Information Closes 23 Trade Publications

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST

Reed Business Information (RBI) has concluded its divestment of US controlled circulation magazines. They announced the closing of a number of trade titles today.

To conclude the divestment process, the publishing operations of the remaining RBI-US controlled circulation titles are to be closed: Building Design+Construction, Chain Leader, Construction Bulletin, Construction Equipment, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, Control Engineering, Converting, Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, Graphic Arts Blue Book, Graphic Arts Monthly, HOTELS, Logistics Management, Material Handling Product News, Modern Materials Handling, Plant Engineering, Professional Builder, Professional Remodeler, Purchasing, Restaurants & Institutions, Semiconductor International, Spec Check, Supply Chain Management Review and Tradeshow Week.

RBI begin its plan to close or sell Reed Business Information magazines in July, 2009. A number of RBI titles - including Broadcasting & Cable, Library Journal and Interior Design - were sold. Publishers Weekly was acquired by former PW publisher George Slowik, JR. earlier this month.

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John Wiley to Publish Blomberg Books

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST

Bloomberg L.P. and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. have announced that Wiley will be the exclusive global publisher of Bloomberg and Businessweek branded books under Blomberg Press, a Wiley imprint. Wiley intends to publish the content using all media platforms including print, e-books and digital.

"We are proud of the great books we've published and hope to continue to grow the Blomberg Press imprint further," said Bloomberg News Editor-In-Chief Matthew Winkler. "As one of the foremost book publishers for professionals, Wiley is the ideal custodian of the Bloomberg and Bloomberg Businessweek brands, and we are delighted with this new relationship."

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RadioTimes

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST

The Guardian reports that BBC Worldwide is likely to sell its magazine which include Top Gear, Radio Times, Gardening World and BBC Good Food.

The review said the BBC had already implemented the findings on a BBC Trust-ordered review of BBC Worldwide's activities, published last year. It included a new remit for BBC Worldwide, which excluded any activity "not in keeping with the BBC brand", and ruled out future undertakings similar to its controversial purchase of the Lonely Planet travel guides business.

Today's report said it had already begun the process of disposing or outsourcing non-core assets, such as audio books, and exiting non-BBC branded channels overseas.

The company says it is "looking to move away from physical media (such as magazines) in the UK."

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Bedford Communications Files for Bankruptcy Protection

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST

Crain's New York Business reports that Bedford Communications Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Bedford publishes Laptop Magazine and several buyer's guides.

According to the filing, Bedford has liabilities of from $1 million to $10 million, and between 50 and 99 creditors. They include Laptop's printer World Color (USA) Corp., which is owed more than $900,000, and the magazine's paper supplier, Gould Paper Corp., which is owed nearly $800,000.

Bedford also owes its landlord, LH Charney Associates, nearly $500,000 in rent.

The tech magazine category is one of several print media categories that are struggling. Technology publications in particular are struggling because there is a vast amount of similar content available free online.

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National Enquirer Could Win Pulitzer Prize

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST

Emily Miller at The Huffington Post reports that the Pulitzer Prize Board accept the National Equirer's submission for a Pulitzer Prize. The John Edwards affair story is the story the Enquirer submitted.

The Pulitzer Prize Board has officially accepted The National Enquirer's submissions for breaking the John Edwards scandal, according to sources close to the Board. In a historic move, the Pulitzer Board conceded that the self-proclaimed tabloid is qualified to compete with mainstream news outlets for journalism's most prestigious prize. The Enquirer is in the running for the Pulitzer in two categories: "Investigative Reporting" and "National News Reporting" for The National Enquirer staff.

"We're excited to be officially part of the Pulitzer competition," The Enquirer's Executive Editor Barry Levine told me when contacted for his reaction to the decision. "We know we'll be judged against other very outstanding submissions, but our work on Edwards is truly worthy of the Prize."

The Enquirer certainly deserves to have a chance at winning. The story was breaking news about a man who could have been the President. Even after Edwards lost he still had the potential to be part of President Obama's cabinet. The Enquirer also continued to report on the story while other media oulets ignored it.

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Berkeley Daily Planet Stops Print Edition

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST

The Daily Californian reports that the Berkeley Daily Planet is temporary suspending its print edition. The move is because of costs and not because the paper simply wants to move completely online.

"The only way to cut expenses further is to give up print publication for the moment," the editorial reads. "We know that many if not most of our 40,000-plus faithful readers prefer paper, and frankly, we do too. But our central mission continues to be reporting the news, and new technology has made online news delivery very attractive."

The paper, which used to be printed six times a week, moved to weekly print publication in April 2008 amidst declining advertising revenue and a struggling journalism industry, said Becky O'Malley, the paper's executive director.

The paper will continue to be published online at berkeleydailyplanet.com.

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Jay Leno to Headline White House Correspondents' Association Dinner

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

CNN reports that Jay Leno will headline this year's White House Correspondents' Association dinner. The comes fresh off Leono's battle for the coveted Tonight Show job with Conan O'Brien and NBC.

Leno agreed earlier this month to appear at the event, before NBC announced his return to hosting "The Tonight Show," the group said. The network's move was prompted by affiliates protesting the poor ratings of Leno's prime-time show.

The comedian will share the stage with President Obama at the correspondents' dinner at the Washington Hilton. By tradition, presidents fire jokes at the news corps, political opponents and even themselves at the event, where politicians, journalists and celebrities rub elbows.

White House Correspondents' Association dinner will be held in May. The website for the dinner can be found here.

Photo: The Jay Leno Show

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NYTimes.com to Introduce Metered Plan

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST

The New York Times has announced plans to start charging for content on its website at nytimes.com. Users will be allowed to read an unknown number of articles for free each month. To read more articles users will have to pay a fee. Subscribers to the print version of the Times will get unlimited access to nytimes.com.

Starting in January 2011, a visitor to NYTimes.com will be allowed to view a certain number of articles free each month; to read more, the reader must pay a flat fee for unlimited access. Subscribers to the print newspaper, even those who subscribe only to the Sunday paper, will receive full access to the site without any additional charge.

Executives of The New York Times Company said they wanted to create a system that would have little effect on the millions of occasional visitors to the site, while trying to cash in on the loyalty of more devoted readers. But fundamental features of the plan have not yet been decided, including how much the paper will charge for online subscriptions or how many articles a reader will be allowed to see without paying.

The plan does not come without significant risks. The New York Times has become a world source for news because of the Internet and they risk losing significant traffic if regular users decided not to pay to use the website. If nytimes.com starts losing traffic than the company may have a more difficult time selling advertising.

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Editor & Publisher Returns Under New Ownership

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Editor & Publisher, a leading media industry news source, has returned under new ownership after being closed by Nielsen in December. Duncan McIntosh Co. Inc. now owns E&P. Charles McKeown will continue as publisher and Mark Fitzgerald is E&P's new editor.

Charles "Chas" McKeown, who will continue as publisher of E&P, hailed the sale and the speed and professionalism with which McIntosh and Nielsen completed the transaction. "Everyone knew what was at stake here," McKeown said. "Newspapers, which are transforming beyond the printed page to all forms of digital media, simply could not lose the one place where the industry could have a conversation with itself and exchange ideas and best practices for navigating the uncertain waters ahead, exemplified by our Interactive Media Conference which includes cable, TV, radio and other media."

Duncan McIntosh Co. Inc. is the publisher of several well-respected boating magazines and newspapers, including Boating World magazine; Sea Magazine, America's Western Boating Magazine; The Log Newspaper; and FishRap. The company also produces the Newport Boat Show in the spring and the Lido Yacht Expo in the fall. Both shows are held in California.

Mark Fitzgerald, a 26-year veteran, was named as E&P's new editor. He had most recently served as E&P's editor-at-large.

Duncan McIntosh said he knew right away he wanted to buy E&P and keep it running. McIntosh said, "Such a critical information source for a newspaper industry so desperately in need of help should not go away. I've been a reader of E&P over the course of 30 years and know its incredible value to readers and advertisers."

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RBI Closes Video Business Magazine

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST

Video Business, a home entertain business trade publication, has ceased publication. The January 4 issue was the magazine's last. Video Business says its publisher Reed Business Information (RBI) is in the process of divesting itself of itself of most of its business-to-business publications in the U.S.

Marcy Magiera, editor-in-chief and associate publisher of Video Business, said, "I'm extremely proud of the role VB has played in the home entertainment industry, consistently breaking news, while providing important analysis and insight to our readers for almost three decades. Every staff member and regular contributor here is a first-class business journalist, and I will miss working with this smart, dedicated and caring group of people."

BtoBonline.com reports that Reed Business Information also ceased publishing two other titles, Manufacturing Business Technology and Industrial Distribution. You can read more on the magazine closures at Folio.

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Washington Times Cuts Sports Section

Tue, 5 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Washington Times has cut its sports section and reduced its newsroom staff by 40%.

The newspaper will revamp to focus on politics, business and investigative reporting. The newspaper's Thursday edition announced the layoffs and said the last sports section would appear Friday. A new print edition will be launched Monday.

Among those let go was the newsroom leader, Managing Editor David Jones. The newspaper announced several management changes, though it's not clear who will oversee the newsroom operation. Christopher Dolan was appointed Wednesday as national politics editor and Brett Decker as editorial page editor.

The new cuts come in addition to job cuts in early December. The Washington Times sports section was printed for the last time on December 31st.

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Ashton Kutcher Relaunches Show on YouTube

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST

The CW quickly canceled Ashton Kutcher's model drama, The Beautiful Life, after just two shows. Ashton Kutcher isn't letting that stop his show. He is turning to YouTube to relaunch the show. Reuters reports that Kutcher believes the show can "find its legs on the Web."

"What we feel like we're doing is creating, in some ways, an industry first," Kutcher told Reuters. "A show that couldn't find its legs on television, we believe can find its legs on the Web."

Using his own production company, Kutcher created "The Beautiful Life" as a show that looked at the underside of the modeling industry, including its cut-throat competition.

YouTube and Kutcher are banking on the TV-level quality to attract viewers in a crowded Web landscape that has plenty of expensively made reruns, but not a lot of high-end original content.

Several episodes that never aired on tv will be aired on YouTube. Ashton Kutcher is hoping he will be able to land sponsors that will allow new web-only episodes of The Beautiful Life to be produced. It is interesting gamble. Ashton Kutcher also a huge Twitter following to help him drive traffic to the shows on YouTube. The YouTube channel can be found here.

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Washington Blade Publisher Shuts Down

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:00:00 EST

FishbowlDC reports that Window Media LLC, the nation's largest gay and lesbian newspaper publisher is closing down. Some of the newspapers they publish ininclude the Washington Blade, South Florida Blade & 411 Magazine, Genre Magazine and Southern Voice.

Politico is also confirming that the LGBT publisher is closing its doors. The closure announcement was also posted on the Washington Blade twitter account. The New York Times has also published a story about the publisher closing its doors.

Posted in ____

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100 Jobs Cut at the Guardian

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:00:00 EST

The Guardian reports that Guardian News and Media (GNM) are cutting 100 jobs at the Guardian. The Guardian's Thursday Technology print section will also be shuttered.

Staff in GNM commercial departments are due to be told about the impact of the latest cost cutting on their jobs by 9 December, while changes at editorial will take longer to complete because cuts are being managed through voluntary redundancies and redeployment. GNM publishes the Guardian, the Observer and the guardian.co.uk website network, which includes MediaGuardian.co.uk, and employs about 1,700 people.

GNM also revealed in the series of staff briefings today that the Guardian's Thursday Technology print section will cease publication at the end of the year.

Layoffs have been widespread and deep throughout the newspaper industry over the past several years. This year has been especially brutal thanks to a combination of internet competition and the recession.

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Hachette Filipacchi Media Closes Metropolitan Home and Pointclickhome.com

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Hachette Filipacchi Media is shuttering Metropolitan Home magazine. Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. will focus on its other home decor title, Elle Decor, instead. Hachette Filipacchi Media is even closing its home portal Pointclickhome.com.

The WSJ says data from the Publishers Information Bureau indicates ad pages for Metropolitan Home fell 33% in the first nine months of 2009. The December issue of Metropolitan Home will be its very last.

Other home magazines including Conde Nast's Domino and O at Home have also been closed recently because of diminished advertising revenues in the recession.

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TopTenReviews Acquires Space.com, LiveScience.com and Newsarama.com

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

TopTenReviews has acquired the Consumer Media Division of Imaginova Inc., a privately held company based in New York City. Included in the acquisition are Space.com, LiveScience.com and Newsarama.com. TopTenReviews has established the TechMediaNetwork to incorporate these properties. Combined, 12.2 million people visit TechMediaNetwork sites each month.

"This acquisition expands TopTenReviews' coverage as a trusted technology adviser and strengthens the company as a source of technology news," said TopTenReviews founder and CEO Jerry Ropelato. "We see strong potential for growth in traffic and revenue as a result of the synergy between the sites."

PaidContent says TopTenReviews raised $6 million in 2008.

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Fortune Reduces Its Publishing Frequency

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:43:00 EST

Fortune magazine is reducing the number of issues it publishes annually from 25 to 18. Reuters reports that the business magazine may also cut staff.

Fortune, like many other U.S. business magazines, has struggled in the advertising downturn.

Fortune will publish two issues some months and just one issue during other months, in the new publishing schedule is part of a remodeling that is expected to result in staff cuts and a sharper focus on the long stories that have been its trademark, the Journal said.

The New York Times reports that the cuts are part of a new round of layoffs from magazine publisher Time Inc.

The changes are part of another round of budget cuts at Time Inc., the nation's largest magazine publisher. Some layoffs were expected by year's end, though the executive said the number had not yet been determined. The news was reported in Friday's Wall Street Journal.

Through September, ad pages across the magazine industry have fallen 27.3 percent this year, but business magazines fared much worse. Fortune, down 34.9 percent, was among the hardest hit, while its closest competitor, Forbes, was down 30.8 percent. Fortune's paid circulation, just over 850,000 in the first half of this year, has changed little in the last decade.

The Wall Street Journal story about the changes at Fortune says big changes are planned for Fortune.com. The WSJ article says the magazine is even considering charging for features like the Fortune 500.

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Newsday Starts Charging $5 Weekly Fee

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST

Newsday has announced that people who are not Optimum Online customers or Newsday customers will have to start paying a $5 weekly fee to access Newsday.com.

Those who are not customers of Optimum Online or the newspaper - both owned by Bethpage-based Cablevision Systems Corp. - will have to pay a $5 weekly fee. However, nonpaying customers will have access to some of newsday.com's information, including the home page, school closings, weather, obituaries, classified and entertainment listings. There also will be some limited access to Newsday stories.

Newsday described the move as one that would create a "pioneering Web model," combining the newspaper's newsgathering services with Cablevision's electronic distribution capabilities. About 75 percent of Long Island households are Newsday home delivery or Cablevision online customers or both, according to Newsday. Optimum Online customers total 2.5 million in the New York area, the paper said.

"We are excited about this model because in addition to a unique ability to immediately reach about 75 percent of Long Island households, we believe the hyper-local approach is right for Long Island," said Debby Krenek, Newsday managing editor and senior vice president/digital.

$5 a week is a lot to charge for online access. Even the Wall Street Journal doesn't charge that much for an annual online subscription. Dvorak says it amounts to $260 a year. Editor & Publisher says Newsday will "listen" to feedback and may tinker with what content is hidden behind the online newspaper's subsscription wall.

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New York Times Cutting 100 Newsroom Jobs

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:00:00 EST

The New York Times Media Decoder blog is reporting that the Times is cutting 100 newsroom jobs, about 8% of the total newsroom jobs. The job cuts will happen by the end of the year, which is not far away.

The program mirrors one carried out in the spring of 2008, when the paper erased 100 positions in its newsroom, though other jobs were created, so the net reduction was smaller. That round of cuts included some layoffs of journalists - about 15 to 20, though The Times would not disclose the actual figure - which was the first time in memory that had happened.

The paper has made much deeper reductions in other, non-newsroom departments, where layoffs have occurred several times. But the advertising drop that has pummeled the industry has forced cuts in the news operation as well. The newsroom already has lowered its budgets for freelancers and trimmed other expenses, and employees took a 5 percent pay cut for most of this year.

Media Decoder says the Times is mailing buyout packages to the entire newsroom staff on Thursday and employees have 45 days to decide whether to apply for it. A lot of newspapers and magazines are struggling right now because of the recession and the switch to from print to online news. It reduced advertising dollars from the recession came at a terrible time for the newspaper industry.

Reuters has published a memo about the job cuts from New York Times Executive Editor Bill Kelle here.

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Get Married Magazine Debuts

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:30:00 EST

Get Married Media has announced the launch of Get Married magazine, a new shopping and trend guide for brides. The wedding magazine includes editorial features on real brides, wedding professionals and experts, as well as an array of inspiring challenges, trend round-ups, product profiles, shopping guides and informative articles.

Get Married is giving the first issue of its magazine for free. Subsequent quarterly issues will be on newsstands beginning January 2010. Annual subscriptions (4 issues) are available at $14.96.

"Get Married magazine is as smart as it is fun, and the response has been tremendously positive from brides, advertisers and wedding professionals. By creating a user-friendly tool that offers choices and guidance on an array of the latest wedding products and trends, we make it easy for brides to simultaneously plan and shop," said Stacie Francombe, founder and president of Get Married Media. "Brides are smart, they are passionate, they like to discover, and they enjoy instant information, and Get Married magazine and getmarried.com afford them the luxury of immediate gratification - it's a girl's dream."

Get Married magazine is closely integrated with the Get Married TV show and GetMarried.com website, which offers brides an interactive experience, including a newly-launched wedding shop that sells products as seen in the magazine, as well as a wedding blog, video segments from the show, articles, image galleries and tools.

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Conde Nast Closes Several Publications

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST

The big news in the magazine industry this week was Conde Nast's decision to shutter several publications. The publications being closed include Gourmet, Cookie, Elegant Bride and Modern Bride. 180 people at Conde Nast will lose jobs as a result of the titles closing.

The L.A. Times describes a sudden switch at glossy magazines form generous expense accounts to cutbacks and firings.

Generous expense accounts were de rigueur at glossy fashion and lifestyle magazines. Some top editors and publishers enjoyed clothing allowances and mortgage assistance. Even lowly assistants flitted about in chauffeur-driven town cars.

But that culture has been turned on its head as the magazine business reels from the battered economy, the drop in advertising revenue and restraints on expenses.

Conde Nast's unexpected closure Monday of venerable Gourmet and three other magazines underscored the swift and brutal fall of what had been one of the city's most elite and free-spending industries.

There have been reports that consulting firm McKinsey & Co. put Conde Nast publications through a brutal review. Even with the cuts and closed publications, Conde Nast may still have job cuts and other cost cutting in its future. Slate compares Conde Nast to General Motors. The Guardian says Conde Nast is slated to lose $1 billion in revenue this year. A publisher can't endure that kind of advertising setback without drastic cuts.

Meanwhile, Conde Nast is launching a dating site targeted at fashionistas. This does not seem like the type of project that will boost the company's revenues by much.

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New Large Format Pet Magazine Deubts

Mon, 5 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

Tame is a new large format, broad-spectrum pet magazine for the Southwest Area. The format of Tame is slightly larger than your standard magazine. Tame is conscious of the ever growing problem of abandoned and abused pets. It's staff is active in raising awareness and support for local animal charities. A portion of ad sales and subscriptions directly benefit animal rescue efforts.

Tame is a free quarterly publication. You can the website here.

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Ebony Magazine May Be Up For Sale

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:53:00 EST

Newsweek has a story that says Johson Publishing may put its flagship publication, Ebony, up for sale.

It's been a year of excruciating decisions for publishing companies-layoffs, pullbacks, closures. Now it appears Johnson Publishing's chairman and CEO, Linda Johnson Rice, has reached what must have been an agonizing decision: Johnson Publishing is seeking a buyer or investor for its flagship publication, Ebony, in an effort aimed at securing the survival of the nation's oldest magazine devoted to African-American life. It's unclear whether the company's other properties, including Jet, would be part of a possible sale.

According to media and investment executives familiar with the developments, Chicago-based Rice, the daughter of Ebony's legendary founder, the late John H. Johnson, has approached, among others, Time Inc., Viacom, and private investors that include buyout firms. Time Inc., the world's largest periodical publisher, already owns Essence, a monthly lifestyle, beauty, and fashion magazine for African-American women. Viacom, meanwhile, owns BET (Black Entertainment Television).

It's not a good environment to find a buyer or investor for a print magazine in this economy and in the the digital age. However, the strongest brands, like Ebony, should do the best. Ebony's website can be found at EbonyJet.com.

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Poll Finds Just 5% of Brits Would Pay For Online News

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:15:00 EST

A recent PCUK/Harris Poll found that just 5% of British news readers would pay for online news. 75% would immediately switch to an alternative free news source.

Someone should send the results to Rupert Murdoch since he really, really wants users to have to pay.

(via 901am)

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MSNBC Acquires EveryBlock

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST

MSNBC.com has acquired a local news service called EveryBlock. The service is billed as a news feed for block. It lets users track nearby crimes, restaurant inspections, news and more by zip code.

"EveryBlock's talented team has a track record of innovation in the industry, and we're excited to add them to the msnbc.com brand family," Tillinghast said. "They've broken new ground with their unique approach to collecting, organizing and presenting news down to the block level. Their impact and importance in the community space is extremely valuable and carries promise for journalism and new business models."

"Joining with msnbc.com gives us the resources to turn EveryBlock from a cool, useful service into something much bigger," said Adrian Holovaty, founder of EveryBlock. Holovaty and the company's staff of five will remain based in Chicago.

EveryBlock's service is offered in about a dozen cities so far. MSNBC also acquired the social news website Newsvine in October 2007.

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